Louis Gossett

“I was president of the schools in junior high and high school, got a scholarship to New York University, played a little basketball, and was a celebrity.”

“The Lord may not come when you want Him, but he's always going to be there on time.”

“I was always told that I'd have to do a movie with a white guy in order to get the money. That's the way it was. That made me feel that I should have chosen some other profession, so I could have gotten my just deserts.”

“I was invited to play with the New York Knicks. I was never drafted, but I was invited to the rookie camp.”

“The worst resentment that anybody can have is one you feel justified to keep.”

“I think God asks us to promise to replenish the planet and to pay 100% attention to our young so that they will develop character and a good conscience.”

“Never made a million dollars from any of my 78 movies. People thought I had this fortune, which I never had.”

“One of the most fascinating projects I worked on right after 'Officer' was 'Sadat,' a role for which Anwar Sadat's widow, Jehan, personally chose me. Although this TV miniseries won me nominations for the Golden Globe and an Emmy, strangely, it was boycotted in the Middle East.”

“I am so grateful that the public has given me this gift. They look at me as a person - not as a race or a color. The word for it is freedom - to be accepted as me.”

“One family, one nation, indivisible. That mentality is essential for our salvation.”

“The only time I was really free was when the director said 'Action' in front of a camera or on the stage, and that's when I flew.”

“I can do more than anyone suspects. I pride myself on my versatility. It took 32 years of difficult parts, second leads, villains and juveniles. The Oscar changed the quality of the roles I was being offered.”

“We started the family Bible after slavery was abolished. My great-grandmother remembered the Bible being started, which meant that she was a slave as a young girl. When she died, the Bible was at least 105 years old, so she must have been nearly 115 years old. Her daughter, my grandmother, died at 97, and her husband at 98.”

“There are beautiful words in the Bible and in our pledges and the Declaration of Independence.”

“There's really nothing like a live audience right there. When you're in a bad show, you can hear the creaks in the chairs.”

“One of my best friends while shooting 'Roots' was Vic Morrow, the guy that whips Kunta.”

“I'm cancer-free. And I'm on antioxidants and acupuncture and a different diet. And I have a different outlook on life. I don't have resentment any more. It's wonderful.”

“If a role isn't different, it's not worth doing.”

“I didn't know anything about acting, I didn't know anything about theater, but I was just an exceptional student at high school. I wanted to play ball; I'm going after a basketball scholarship and be a doctor. I got injured and my marks began to drop.”

“We need to do whatever it takes to get our children together and pay attention to them, because that's our future. What's in the hearts and minds of our children is what's in our future.”